17c2ede6dcbed86a7dc0868c919007ae pmc_11171134.pdf df32cd47b2b7aec2770f70a4352906679e1b7fd9 pmc_11171134.pdf d70d463e9a72492b1dda147884fb0c9b4c127d520a6cc76ea9ce1238bfb1552c pmc_11171134.pdf Title: Exposure of Urban European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to Toxoplasma gondii in Highly Populated Areas of Northeast Spain Subject: Toxoplasma gondii is a generalist zoonotic parasite that involves a wide range of warm-blooded animals as intermediate hosts and felines as definitive hosts. Recent studies have proved significant positive associations between human population density and T. gondii seroprevalence in wildlife. However, there is limited data regarding T. gondii wildlife in urban areas, where the highest human density occurs. The present study aimed to analyse the T. gondii exposure in urban hedgehogs from the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, NE Spain. One hundred eighteen hedgehogs were analysed for the presence of antibodies (modified agglutination test; n = 55) and parasite DNA (qPCR; heart = 34; brain = 60). Antibodies were detected in 69.09% of hedgehogs. T. gondii DNA was not detected in any of the analysed samples. The present study reports a high T. gondii seroprevalence in urban hedgehogs in areas surrounding Barcelona, the most densely human-populated area of NE Spain, reinforcing the association between human population density and environmental T. gondii oocysts. The lack of detection by molecular techniques warrants more studies. In the last few decades, the distribution and abundance of European hedgehogs have declined, including their urban populations. Further research is needed to investigate the impact of T. gondii on hedgehog populations. Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii; urban; hedgehog; Erinaceus europaeus Author: Alejandra Escudero, Maria Puig Ribas, Elena Obón, Sonia Almería, Xavier Fernández Aguilar, Hojjat Gholipour, Oscar Cabezón and Rafael Molina-López Creator: LaTeX with hyperref Producer: pdfTeX-1.40.25 CreationDate: Thu Jun 6 12:21:19 2024 CEST ModDate: Thu Jun 6 13:38:23 2024 CEST Custom Metadata: no Metadata Stream: no Tagged: no UserProperties: no Suspects: no Form: none JavaScript: no Pages: 9 Encrypted: no Page size: 595.276 x 841.89 pts (A4) Page rot: 0 File size: 2553180 bytes Optimized: no PDF version: 1.7 name type encoding emb sub uni object ID ------------------------------------ ----------------- ---------------- --- --- --- --------- PRJKGQ+VnURWPalladioL-Bold Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 10 0 VVZVOH+URWPalladioL-Bold Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 16 0 LKVKGD+URWPalladioL-Roma Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 22 0 GUHOSC+URWPalladioL-Ital Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 27 0 JWDTQM+URWPalladioL-BoldItal Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 32 0 QDPGBH+VnURWPalladioL Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 37 0 SZMRXJ+TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT Type 1C WinAnsi yes yes no 53 0 SFWFME+CMSY10 Type 1 Builtin yes yes yes 76 0 OVNEXW+EURM10 Type 1 Builtin yes yes yes 81 0 Jhove (Rel. 1.28.0, 2023-05-18) Date: 2024-07-24 02:40:45 CEST RepresentationInformation: pmc_11171134.pdf ReportingModule: PDF-hul, Rel. 1.12.4 (2023-03-16) LastModified: 2024-07-18 02:30:22 CEST Size: 2553180 Format: PDF Version: 1.7 Status: Well-Formed and valid SignatureMatches: PDF-hul MIMEtype: application/pdf PDFMetadata: Objects: 293 FreeObjects: 1 IncrementalUpdates: 0 DocumentCatalog: PageLayout: SinglePage PageMode: UseNone Outlines: Item: Title: Introduction Destination: section.1 Item: Title: Materials and Methods Destination: section.2 Children: Item: Title: Animals and Samples Destination: subsection.2.1 Item: Title: Laboratorial Analyses Destination: subsection.2.2 Item: Title: Statistical Analyses Destination: subsection.2.3 Item: Title: Results Destination: section.3 Item: Title: Discussion Destination: section.4 Item: Title: Conclusions Destination: section.5 Item: Title: References Destination: section.6 Info: Title: Exposure of Urban European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to Toxoplasma gondii in Highly Populated Areas of Northeast Spain Author: Alejandra Escudero, Maria Puig Ribas, Elena Obón, Sonia Almería, Xavier Fernández Aguilar, Hojjat Gholipour, Oscar Cabezón and Rafael Molina-López Subject: Toxoplasma gondii is a generalist zoonotic parasite that involves a wide range of warm-blooded animals as intermediate hosts and felines as definitive hosts. Recent studies have proved significant positive associations between human population density and T. gondii seroprevalence in wildlife. However, there is limited data regarding T. gondii wildlife in urban areas, where the highest human density occurs. The present study aimed to analyse the T. gondii exposure in urban hedgehogs from the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, NE Spain. One hundred eighteen hedgehogs were analysed for the presence of antibodies (modified agglutination test; n = 55) and parasite DNA (qPCR; heart = 34; brain = 60). Antibodies were detected in 69.09% of hedgehogs. T. gondii DNA was not detected in any of the analysed samples. The present study reports a high T. gondii seroprevalence in urban hedgehogs in areas surrounding Barcelona, the most densely human-populated area of NE Spain, reinforcing the association between human population density and environmental T. gondii oocysts. The lack of detection by molecular techniques warrants more studies. In the last few decades, the distribution and abundance of European hedgehogs have declined, including their urban populations. Further research is needed to investigate the impact of T. gondii on hedgehog populations. 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